Peanut Butter and Chocolate
by Infinite Snow
Summary: Peanut butter and chocolate are two good flavors that have a lot of uses. But when they are mixed together, they create such a splendid symphony of emotions that is too hard to shorten down into one sentence. [Hikage/Hinata]


_A little boy excitedly counted for his friends to hide. He tried to peek to the side, and tried to get a hint to as where the friends could've gone._

"_Hey, no peeking! You will ruin the game!" a girl gave the boy with messy dark hair a cute and fake smile._

"_O-Oh, sorry!" The little boy stuttered._

"_One!"_

_The students were smirking. They weren't going to hide. All except a little girl with auburn hair and bright blue eyes._

"_Two!"_

"_Did he really think we would stay?" a girl snickered as she talked to her best friend._

"_Three!"_

"_Ugh, he must be stupid to think so. Let's go home. He can search forever and I won't care," the little girl flaunted and the girls flipped their hair and went to their house to play dollies. All except a little girl with cat-like hair and sad sapphire eyes. No one liked him? Were they…backstabbing him?_

"_Four!"_

"_He must be really stupid to think we would want to play with him," a boy with spiky black hair laughed silently with his other friend in caution so that the kendo boy wouldn't lift his head from the wall and find out where they REALLY were going. The girl's fluffed out hair that shaped like cat ears flattened in sadness like a real cat._

"_Five!"_

"_Let's go," the other one declared, and the little boys in their 'gang' nodded and silently cheered._

"_Six!"_

"_Ugh, he is still counting? C'mon, what videogame do you want to play, guys?"_

"_Seven!"_

"_He sure is stupid if he thinks that WE would be his friends. He is a nobody."_

"_Eight!"_

"_What an idiot. Shall I tell him?" An annoyed girl made her way but her collar was yanked by her best friend._

"_No. Let him suffer."_

"_Nine!"_

"_Come, on Mika. Let's go. Obviously he needs to learn on his own that no one wants to be on his own. Or else if not, then he will just think that people will spoon feed him answers."_

"_Okay."_

_With that, the last two girls left._

"_TEN! Ready or not, here I come!"_

_The little girl gasped and hid behind a tree. She hugged her knees to her chest, and knew that he wouldn't find her._

_The little girl waited and waited. Then when she heard rustling and the boy murmuring along the lines of, "I swear I heard some sobbing here…"_

_The girl gasped._

"_Found you."_

_The girl gasped and looked up. Sure enough, she saw the little boy who pressed his head towards the tree trunk and enthusiastically counted while the others went away and went home._

"_They left, didn't they?" the boy asked._

_The girl nodded and the boy slumped down next to her. He sighed, in a despondent manner. The girl tilted her head towards him in a curious manner._

"_What's wrong? Does this happen a lot?"_

"_Yeah. They never considered me as a true friend. I only tried or else my teacher scared me with horror stories of me having an unsocial life when I grow up. I, this is my first time playing Hide-And-Seek and I never thought they would leave me," the boy sadly stared at her, "But I am not surprised. They don't consider me as one of them."_

"_I played it before," the girl smiled._

"_Really? Did you play with your friends?"_

_The girl's smile vanished as quickly as it came._

"_I did. But every time I would hide, they would never consider looking for me," the little girl looked down, "I would go home every time crying…"_

"_Oh," the boy said, feeling terrible to think he was suffering a lot._

"_So, you found me."_

"_I guess."_

"_Why did you decide to hide when everyone else left?" the boy asked curiously._

"_Because," the little girl smiled mysteriously, "I understand your pain."_

_They were silent for some while and then the girl spoke up._

"_Do you have somewhere to be now?"_

"_Not really. I told my parents that I would spend the whole day with my friends," the boy looked down sadly._

"_Hey, don't be sad! You can come to my house!" the girl cheered, "I have this snack that I eat whenever I feel down!"_

"_Really?" the boy smiled._

"_Yep! And soon you will be smiling as well!" the girl beamed._

"_I don't buy it," the boy pouted._

"_Oh yeah? Well, try me. Come on, what's your name?"_

"_Hinata Muto."_

"_And my name is Hikage Sumino! Call me whatever you want but I will call you Hinata-chan, okay?"_

"_That name sounds…girly…"_

"_I think it sounds cute!" the girl cheered._

"_Thank you, Hika-chan," Hinata smiled._

"_C'mon! What're you waiting for, slow poke?!" Hikage laughed as she raced down the street, to her house._

"_Hey!" Hinata called after her, "Wait for me!"_

"_You have to catch me!" Hikage stuck her tongue out and raced even further._

_They kept up this game until they reached her house. She opened the door and closed it behind them. She read the placard on the dining table and sighed in a melancholy manner. She mumbled something underneath her breath and raced off to find what she was looking for._

_Hinata looked at the card in confusion, and saw what she meant._

_**Dear Hikage-chan,**_

_**Mommy will come home late because she has late shifts again. Mommy doesn't know about when daddy will come home.**_

_**From,**_

_**Mom**_

"_Here!" she cheered._

_There was a jar of chocolate spread and a jar of peanut butter._

"_W-What?" Hinata got puzzled now._

"_Oh, wait a minute!" Hikage laughed as she took out little bowls. Then she put a scooper in each jar. Plopping one scoop of chocolate spread and one scoop of peanut butter in each bowl she put two spoons in the little bowls. Hinata looked at it and was about to eat the lumps separately when Hikage stopped him._

"_You have to mix them together, and then eat it! The taste is so unbelievable when you do that!" Hikage gave Hinata a huge smile._

"_Really?" Hinata asked._

"_Yep!"_

_Slowly the pair of children stirred the scoops together until they were a melting harmony of peanut butter and chocolate._

_Hinata took a hesitant step but plunged the spoon in his mouth that contained a small dollop of the heavenly mixture. When his eyes flew open, the chocolate and peanut butter had played a symphony of taste on his taste buds. And to think, being lonely could open the doors to new things._

oOo

Timeskip – Present

"Kya! Hinata-kun was so amazing at Kendo Club today!" Some girls squealed, but Hinata didn't spare them a second glance as he gave them polite smiles just to get them off him and possibly far away from him as possible.

"Ugh, girls are so annoying at this time of the day," Teru caught up with Hinata, and pushed his bangs to the side in frustration.

"Well, they are girls," Hinata didn't know what else to say, "What do you expect?"

"True. Girls will be girls," Teru nodded.

The two best friends walked for a little while when Teru froze. Hinata stopped and looked at his friend in confusion and then worry when he saw that Teru's face paled.

"Teru, what is it?" Hinata asked.

"Um, looks like there is a wave of fangirls," He shakily pointed to the 'wave' he was talking about. More like a tsunami of squealing girls running in his direction.

"Uh, I will try to steal all of the attention and you get out of here!" Teru tried to push Hinata out.

"As if you aren't any different! You are popular here too! Are you wishing you want to die?!" Hinata shot his best friend an incredulous look.

Teru scoffed and said, "Puh-lease, I can handle them a hell lot better than you. Go on!"

Hinata shrugged in annoyance but did what his friend asked, or more like ordered him to do. He ran out of the hallways, out onto the courtyards and past them.

At the corner where he remembered was Hikage's sunflower spot, he stood still.

Hikage was sitting there, knees up to her chest, smiling and eating something from her lunch box. Hinata didn't know what the brunette was eating, but he found himself unconsciously smiling when he saw the sight. It was by far the most peaceful thing he saw during the whole day.

"Hello," Hinata gave off a pleasant smile, but Hikage only responded with the enlarging of her eyes.

Over the years the two spent, they played until Hinata became very popular with kids his age. They swept him away and he was happy, although he wasn't as happy as he was with Hikage. And the poor girl was left in the shadows like she was before she had met him. Only this time, she was ignored even more due to the fact that she had 'stolen' Hinata away for benefit purposes, a rumor that circulated between her classmates.

"Mind if I have some?" Hinata smiled at what she was eating. Peanut butter and chocolate.

"Yes."

"So…you don't want me to have any?" Hinata tilted his head to the side. He was sure she was confused to how she should've answered: No, she doesn't mind, or yes, he can have some.

"Yes."

"Why?" Hinata asked. Was his childhood love denying him of the one snack that made him happy?

"Because you aren't lonely. You have all these friends to surround you whenever you feel down. Everyone admires you, and look down on me. Everywhere you go, people are worried about your safety and wellness. Nobody cares if I am there or died in a car crash," Hikage said, eating the last of her snack.

Hinata's fists clenched.

"I am nothing but misfortune. You are everyone's light. Go back where you truly belong. Why have an anti-depressant snack when you are filled of happiness?" and with that, Hikage poured the last of the water in her can to the sunflower, packed up her lunch box and left with her stuff.

Hinata was left to think about what Hikage said. When it sunk into his head, he felt terrible.

"Yo man! What are ya doin' here?" a voice came.

Hinata turned around and sighed. Typical of his annoying friend, Teru.

"Teru, now is not the time," Hinata sighed.

"Oh yes it is," Teru huffed and plopped right down next to him and crossed his arms, "I saw EVERYTHING."

"And today is getting better and better," Hinata huffed in a fake enthusiastic voice.

"Hey you should be thanking me! I had to lie about your whereabouts to those stupid fangirls of yours! Curse you being so pretty and popular!" Teru socked him in the shoulder. Hinata laughed, before remembering where he is, and then became gloomy all over again. Teru noticed that.

"So what happened?" Teru asked.

"Long story."

"And I have a lot of time. Spill it."

"You see, we used to be friends…" Hinata started telling the tale of their first encounter and growing friendship with a sad glint in his dark eyes.

oOo

Hinata ended it and sighed. Teru sat frozen.

"Wow, that was…" Teru started.

"Stupid? Weird? Absurd?" Hinata spewed a few words in case if Teru decided now was a best time to insult him.

"I was going to say intense, you dummy!"

"I know."

"So why does she hate you now?"

"It…she doesn't hate me…she is just sad, you know?" Hinata said.

Teru nodded.

"When I was left behind when playing hide-and-seek, she played it and said she was so happy I found her. She opened up to me and we used to eat peanut butter and chocolate together as a little pick-me-up. I thought such sweet concoctions wouldn't make me happy, but a little serving of that snack really lifted my spirits when I felt down at my low point," Hinata said.

"I never tried that…Oh well I might as well do it when I get home!" Teru smiled, before realizing he should be helping his depressed friend rather than thinking of snack ideas.

"Oh, but why did she feel hesitant on sharing with you?" Teru asked.

"Because she thinks I have lots of friends which I think are just fangirls. She thinks everyone worries about me and don't care if she is gone or hurt. She says I am a light and she is misfortune and belongs somewhere dark. She says I don't belong anywhere near her so she says I should go and be happy and pay no mind to something as worthless as her," Hinata said.

"In short, you abandoned her," Teru said.

"I did not!"

"You know, I think she is right."

"Teru!"

"What? Are you asking me to lie?"

"…"

"I never met this girl and when I met you, you had all these friends just swarming around you. You never talked about her, and when you saw her at our school, you acknowledged her but you didn't go near her. I would've thought she was bratty or emo for saying such mean things about herself, but she is right about the message behind her words. You left her, and forgot her," Teru said.

"Sumino gave you happiness and you left her behind once you started making friends. Is this how you repay someone's kindness? She played Hide-And-Seek when no one wanted to. She lifted your spirits again and again. I bet she made you laugh. And is this how you say thank you to her?" Teru asked, "For a kind person, you are kind of mean."

"I know."

"Well?"

"Well what?" Hinata asked, obviously annoyed.

"Aren't you going to say sorry?"

"How? She is avoiding me."

"No she isn't dude. She is just sad. I think she might listen to you if you say sorry to her and hang out with her a lot like you do with me. She seems like a really kind person," Teru smiled, "Just confront her and say sorry. Maybe tell her you love her."

Hinata's face became really red.

"I knew it. You love her."

"…"

"Sumino and Hinata, sittin' in a tree…"

"DON'T FINISH THAT!"

"K-i-s-s-i-n-g~!"

"We didn't have our first kiss!"

"You never know."

oOo

[The next day]

The rest of the students had left. Hikage was sighing at her desk. She was alone, as always. Checking her time, she was sure Kendo Club was done with practice, and probably girls were swooning and fighting over the towels with Hinata's sweat on it.

"What a waste of time…" Hikage mumbled.

Out of her lunch bag, she took out the tiny container containing two huge dollops of peanut butter and chocolate spread.

Taking a dainty spoon and mixing them together, she thought about the times she ate it with…

"Hi, can I have some?"

Hikage swiveled around to see Hinata smiling at her in his uniform. Somehow he was earlier and somehow his uniform is messier than usual.

Hinata noticed her confused stares and said, "I came out of Kendo Club early to see you."

"Oh."

"So…"

"What."

Hinata winced at her icy remark that sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Hey, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Everyone knows I am just a doll that when its presence is of no use, they can just throw it to the side," Hikage silently took dainty bites out of her snack.

"That's not true."

"That's what you think."

"And that is the truth, Hika-chan."

Her childhood nickname brought tears to her eyes and Hinata walked across the room and hugged her tightly.

"Shh…don't cry…do you think I would want you to cry?"

"I thought y-you forgot me…"

"That would never happen, Hika-chan. Not when I love you."

Hinata's cheeks inflamed and he knew Teru had a sharp eye. He did love his childhood friend.

"Do you mean that?" Hikage became silent.

Hinata slowly nodded, accepting rejection any minute now although he doesn't know what it feels like since every girl throws themselves at him, not that he accepts any of them. He politely rejects and he doesn't know the individual pain each of those rejected girls go though, their feelings not considered by him.

Hikage stood so still that Hinata was so sure she would just burst out laughing and reject the idea.

But he was proven wrong when Hikage gave him the biggest smile she ever made and said, "Come on, let's eat this together."

"But you only have one spoon," Hinata said.

Hikage smiled and pulled one more out.

"Because I thought any day now you would come to me asking for a pick-me-up," Hikage smiled.

Hinata smiled and came next to her and began eating the peanut butter and chocolate mixture.

"Never gets old," the two of them said.

oOo

Aya was standing at the doorway and was fuming. She was about to walk in with her little sidekicks.

"I suggest you don't do that," a cold voice came.

"W-What?!" Aya blushed and faced Teru who was centimeters away from her ear. He pulled back and glared at her.

"You have no right to go in there and break whatever fragile line they developed. You do that and I will make sure to destroy your reputation here at school, forever," Teru glared.

"B-but he doesn't belong to that brat!" Aya wailed. And then two hands grabbed her by the collar and slammed her against the wall.

"Actually, she is a much better girl for my best friend than you will ever be. She really loves him while you just infatuate with his looks and skills in the Kendo Club and his high grades. You meddle with their relationship or my friendship to Hinata and Sumino, I will make you pay, you hear that?" Teru growled.

He dumped her to the ground.

When Aya got her footing when she got up, she ran down the hall, wailing, hoping that Hinata would hear her, but he didn't.

"What a loud brat," Teru sighed and looked at the pair sharing the good concoction of the world's two best flavors, "But it was worth it. They are peanut butter and chocolate when mixed together makes something delicious."

oOo

A/N: Teru found about the snack because Hinata told him, remember? He just made up an analogy by himself about the awesome snack.


End file.
